Fundraising Fix
by BethSHeartbeat
Summary: Lofty asks Max to take over at the auction instead of Jacob, only it ends in a way that no one could have expected.


"Max, I need a favour." Lofty begged as he opened the door to Max's cupboard, having not knocked before entering. The young, and now orange nurse, stared at the porter for a while before he noticed the headphones, which were covering his ears, meant that Max couldn't hear him and had yet to even notice that he was in the room. Lofty moved closer and shook his friend, causing Max to jump slightly.

"What was that for?" He asked angrily as he pulled the headphones off and left them around his neck.

"You weren't listening." Was all that Lofty answered in response as he shrugged his shoulders.

"What happened to you? You look like an orange paint factory exploded on you." Max laughed as he looked at Lofty, having only just noticed the fake tan gone wrong on his friend.

"It's not funny, no one will take me seriously." Lofty whined as he looked down at himself.

"And you think they do normally?" Max teased, but instantly felt bad as a defeated expression crept onto his best friend's face. "I'm joking mate."

"You might be, but other people aren't." Lofty sighed before he reached around for the door.

"Wait, what was it that you wanted?" Max asked, realising that Lofty must have visited him for a reason and that it was a reason that the nurse was yet to explain.

"I needed a favour." Lofty stopped and turned back around to face Max, and then explained the situation to a confused looking Max. "So will you help?"

"Only because it's you." Max sighed as he stood up and walked out of the cupboard and down towards the exit of the ED with Lofty.

"Remind me again why I'm doing this?" Max sighed as Lofty handed him a pint of beer. They'd been sat in the pub for a while as Lofty had promised to buy Max all of his drinks for the night. The pub had got busier as the night had gone on, many of the ED staff were now present and a small hen party were sat chatting away.

"You never know, you might meet 'the one'." Lofty joked but was met with a frosty glare from Max, who then proceeded to down the rest of the pint that he was holding. "Sorry. It's for a good cause."

"And how can I not help? I mean, have you seen this face? Who wouldn't fall in love with this?" Max joked, the alcohol starting to kick in as Lofty was called to the front by Jack. Without a word, Lofty stood from his seat and was followed by Max as they walked to the front of the room where Jack was stood.

"I'm afraid I won't be participating, instead Max will be taking my place." Jack frowned slightly and then looked Max up and down, his frown transforming to a look of pure disgust at Max's unbrushed hair and choice of outfit.

"Okay, well we're offering a date with Max here, he might not be the best to look at but I'm sure he has something going for him. If that doesn't tempt you, then we're throwing in an all-expenses paid meal with it." Max scowled as Jack advertised him to the crowds but never protested as the crowd seemed to be finding it funny.

"£10." Someone in the crowd yelled out.

"£10?! Is that all I'm worth?" Max called out, causing the crowd to start laughing.

"25!" Came another voice.

"50."

"Now we're getting more like it, I still think I'm worth more though." Max insisted, he was getting so into what was going on that he never noticed the door open and close.

"£150." Came a familiar voice from the corner room, Max half managed to convince himself that he was imagining it.

"That's better!" He laughed as he turned to face the direction from which the call had come from, only to spot the person who he'd thought he'd been imagining. Zoe smiled at him cautiously from where she was stood at the bar, but Max seemed to be frozen.

"Any advance on £150?" Jack took over as Max just stared at his estranged wife, he'd not seen her for weeks and suddenly here she was paying for a date with him. "Sold to Dr Hanna, enjoy." Jack smiled, not realising the history between the porter and the consultant.

"Max?" Zoe asked as she walked closer to his husband, who was sat with Robyn and Lofty nursing a pint of beer. "Can we talk?"

"Go ahead, anything you need to say can be said in front of my sister and my best friend." Max told her, which made Zoe's heart hurt slightly but still she continued.

"I'm sorry that I ruined your chance for a proper date here, I need to talk to you though and I wasn't sure how else to do it." Zoe admitted, but Max didn't reply instead he stared into his drink. "I suppose I'll see you tomorrow at 8."

It was nearly 7 and both Max and Zoe sat in their respective homes staring into their wardrobes as they searched for something suitable to wear in this awkward situation. They had twenty minutes before they had to leave for the restaurant, whilst Zoe's hair and make-up was done, every outfit she tried on either seemed like she was trying too hard or not hard enough.

"It's not too late to pull out." Robyn told Max as she appeared beside him.

"It's for charity, I can't not go. We agreed that we were friends and friends go out for meals together sometimes." Max reasoned.

"Fair enough, make sure you're dressed smartly, it's a posh restaurant." Robyn explained, answering the question that Max had silently been begging for advice on.

"Reservation for Walker." Max smiled at the waiter as he walked into the restaurant.

"Follow me sir, your dinner guest is already here." The waiter informed him as he led him towards a table away from everyone else in the restaurant. The table was lit purely by the candles surrounding it and the one sat in the centre of the table. Rose petals were scattered across the table cloth and a bottle of champagne sat in an ice bucket on the window sill beside the table, if it wasn't so awkward then it would have been romantic. "Can I get you a drink?"

"Glass of House red please." Max told the waiter, who swiftly walked off. "Hello Zoe."

"You look smart." Zoe commented. "I don't want this to feel awkward." She then sighed.

"Neither do I, maybe it'll get easier as the night goes on?" Max replied honestly, causing Zoe to nod as the waiter returned with Max's drink.

"Just let me know when you're ready to order." The waiter told them both before walking away, the tension was thick in the room and he didn't want to be there any longer than was absolutely necessary. Silence descended on the table as they both read through the starter menu, but that didn't occupy them for long.

"So where have you been?" Max asked, starting with the conversations that seemed easiest to deal with right now.

"America, I went to visit an old friend and colleague in Michigan."

"How was the weather?" Max asked, trying to keep the conversation light.

"Do you really care?" Came the reply of Max's estranged wife, who looked at him with raised eyebrows, causing Max to shake his head. "I was with Nick Jordan, he's an ex as well as a friend and old colleague." Zoe admitted.

"Oh." Max gulped down a bit of his wine before his eyes returned to her. "So why did you come back?"

"Nothing happened with Nick, there was something there a few years ago but he's like a brother now. I came back because I missed you, I spent a long time telling Nick about you and he made me realise that I wasn't ready to give up on you."

"Zoe…"

"Please just listen Max, I know I don't deserve the chance to say all of this and that I should leave it but I can't." She gave him a second to argue but continued when he raised no objections. "I made a mistake, a stupid one, but a big one. I understand that I hurt you and I understand that you can't trust me anymore and that you don't want to be with me but surely somewhere inside you still love me? Surely you miss me like I miss you?"

"You know I do Zoe, I can't turn that off. I've never felt as hurt or broken hearted as I did on our wedding day. I understand that you were scared of commitment but we could have sat down and spoken about it, I know you were drunk but so was I, and I didn't sleep with anyone else."

"I've never loved anyone like I love you Max, I've never trusted anyone the same way that I trust you. I'm just sorry that I didn't realise just how much you meant to me until you were gone." Zoe admitted.

"I'm sorry too, I acted like a bit of an idiot afterwards. I didn't know what to do, I was so hurt by what you did but so worried about you too. I acted like a grumpy teen."

"Don't apologise Max, you had every right to act in any way you saw fit."

"Have you decided on your starters?" The waiter asked as he reappeared, only to find the situation less tense than it had been twenty minutes before.

"Erm, I'll have the soup please." Zoe answered.

"Yeah, same."

The topic stayed light again for a while, talking about their Christmas and New Year and then about the hospital. In front of them sat their deserts and a couple of empty champagne bottles, meaning that their normal filters were now seriously chipped away at.

"Do you think there's any way back for us Max?" Zoe finally asked, directly addressing the question that she'd been wondering about for a while. Max considered for a moment, he looked up at her and ignored her question.

"You're beautiful Zo'." He admitted, making Zoe's heart race at the sound of his nickname for her. Without another word he shuffled his chair around so that it was closer to Zoe and then lay a hand on her thigh and took her hand with his other. They sat that way for a moment before he moved closer to her and kissed her, without a thought their lips were moving in sync as they kissed. "I don't care how hard it is, or how many times we get lost along the way, I think we can find a way back." He said as he kissed her again, for a moment their problems were all long forgotten as they struggled to get closer to each other, both having missed each other.

"Can we go home?" Zoe asked as she pulled away, but rested her forehead against his as she felt a need to stay close in case she pulled completely away and found that she was dreaming again, or that he no longer wanted her.

"Yeah, was it worth it though Zo'?" He asked as he took her hand again.

"Was what worth it?" She asked, her brain too fuzzy with feelings to realise what he was referring to.

"Was it worth the £150 you spent on a date with me?"

"Nope." She teased, before laughing as Max feigned hurt. "It was worth so much more. I love you Max."

"I never stopped loving you Dr Walker, let's get out of here." Zoe's heart went into overload as he referred to her by her married name.

"Walker?" Zoe asked, a beam painted across her face.

"Or Hanna, let's talk properly in the morning but right now I'd rather get you home." He told her as he kissed her once again.

"Definitely."


End file.
